“We feel like he’s gained not just one step but maybe two steps, thanks to the weight loss,” Bucs defensive line coach Todd Wash said. “His agility, his quickness, that’s what he was lacking last year.

“He was just real sluggish, even as a pass rusher. But now we’re seeing the explosion we saw from him in college again and he’s really locked in (mentally) on that left side, too.”

That’s the biggest difference.

It might have been all those cheeseburgers he was eating, or maybe it was the heat. Moore isn’t really sure. All he knows is he struggled to stay focused off the field last year.

At the height of the problem he was nodding off in team and positional meetings and failing the little pop quizzes Wash or a teammate would throw at him to make sure he was grasping the details of the defense.

Joe is just floored that a NFL rookie could have an ongoing attention problem.

One would think the first time it was noticed Moore would have had to run endless sprints, or run four miles, or be publicly humiliated and tortured in another way to snap him out of it immediately. Maybe he was made to suffer, but apparently it didn’t work until this offseason?

Moore has dropped his Jim Bates-mandated weight and allegedly is all dialed in to be the starting left end, so Cummings reports. Joe really has to be skeptical of a second-year guy who couldn’t concentrate last season and is now expected to carry the load.

The only thing that comforts Joe about Moore is former Bucs defensive end and JoeBucsFan.com analyst Steve White’s assessment of him.

Kyle Moore:

If there is one guy I expect to make the biggest leap in production next year, it’s Kyle Moore. Hampered by injuries most of 2009, he finally got an opportunity to play late in the season and he showed flashes in his rookie year. The Bucs used him both at left end and inside at defensive tackle some, but I think he will find a home next season just staying at end. He has all the physical tools to be a very good defensive lineman, but the one thing I believe he has to work on is transitioning to a more pro-style approach instead of a college approach to playing defensive line.

For instance, Moore didn’t show a great variety of pass rush moves and the one move he seemed to rely on was an arm over/swim move.

Now everyone loves to see a guy execute a swim move when it works, but the problem is in the NFL it rarely does. And when you miss on a swim move, you generally can not counter out of it and make a secondary move. That’s why the majority of winning moves you see in the NFL are some version of a rip move. Rip moves allow you to keep your balance and, if you get blocked, you still have the ability to counter out of it with a spin move or a hump move or a bull rush.

I think the Buccaneers’ brass is going to give Moore the opportunity to start at left end, especially if Jimmy Wilkerson isn’t re-signed or isn’t healthy by the beginning of training camp. With some technique work this offseason, I think Bucs fans will be happy with what they see out of Moore in the fall.

23 Responses to “The Old Kyle Moore Was A Snoozer”

Great point Joe, he should have been punished for falling asleep habitually.
But what worries me more is how in his mind he was garbage after adding 20 lbs. I understand that makes a huge difference, but when you’re 250+ already, your production shouldn’t drop like a stone by adding 20 lbs. A small dropoff, sure. But maybe losing 20 lbs. and being a 2nd year player will help him raise his level of play significantly.

I’d like to hear from Steve White on whether or not “running as punishment” is still done in the NFL. Doesn’t the NFLPA restrict exactly how much work can/will be done by the players?

I could be wrong, but I don’t think NFL coaches have the time to stop practice to make a guy run for falling asleep in meetings. Yes, its unfortunate and something no fan wants to hear, but it’s hardly the first time something like this has happened.

The only time I can ever remember somebody having to run as punishment is when you got into a fight back when Tony was here he would make you run till practice was over. Other than that no its not like high school or college where you get punished in a physical way for stuff like that. Instead you either get fined and or suspended if it happens enough. You’re supposed to be a professional at this point so you shouldn’t have to punish guys that way anymore in theory.

If Kyle Moore added weight and then had injuries, that would explain the focus factor. I just hope it is that and not the other option:
Another USC player who doesn’t have what it takes because they never had to work for anything in their life.

Not sure what your computer is picking up. The link Joe has to TBO shows a picture of Kyle Moore and Styles White making a sack of a Texans quarterback and the cutline (caption) reads: “Kyle Moore, left, has shed 22 pounds from last year and has taken command of the left defensive end job.” No mention of Dre Moore anywhere.

OK, 20 lbs could have casued sleep aptnia, which would make it hard to focus and casue you to fall asleep during meetings. You can not call the guy a “bust in waiting” after one season anyway…I gues you can, but it is not really enough time to judge his work. He also came on pretty nice at times.

“June 2nd, 2010 at 11:55 am
…
And some of you “drink the kool-aid”ers, come on, it’s called being positive and optimistic – hope. There’s nothing wrong with that, nothing wrong at all.”

Jeff, let’s put this way, you can keep up hope that the hot blonde in the red one-pice suit on the poster in your room will show up to help you reach the promised land, I will be realistic and understand that the Bucs are nothing more than smoke and mirrors-cheap ones at that.